Inconsequential
by iolah
Summary: Thirty-one moments in the span of seven years when the Slytherins got along with members of other houses perhaps better than they were supposed to. No pairings.


Just a little beforehand information. Under no circumstances am I implying that Slytherins and Gryffindors actually get along splendidly behind scenes. What I meant to convey in this fic that, while the majority of the time Slytherins and Gryffindors hate each other, there are a few select moments where that hatred isn't quite so apparent. I would love not to get any reviews saying "But wait! Slytherins are evil. They hate each other. They're not friends" etc. They do hate each other, they are not friends, but that doesn't mean that that they hate each other ALL OF THE TIME.

Another little thing- I actually ship one of the relationships that I did in this story, but there is no romance in this okay? You can guess which pairing I like if you really want to (I'll tell you if you're right) but I did not intend for anything to be taken romantically. Just sorta kinda friendship.

EDIT: I changed the one with Tracy in it, because I can't find her in the books and if she is just a movie character there is no need to include her.

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns all of these characters; I'm just playing with her puppets.

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1) Principles

Slytherins and Gryffindors hated each other on principle. So when Seamus laughed at another one of Blaise's dry jokes he did it with the maximum amount of disdain.

Really.

2) Teacher

Longbottom glowered at him, having just been released from the leg locker curse. The Gryffindor was such a dunce that Draco could barely contain his laughter. He sent the same curse at the boy again. Longbottom dodged it, tripping in the process. Well, it was a start.

3) Guardian Angel

She thought Luna was a good laugh. Pansy couldn't help the strange affection mixed with admiration she felt for the odd girl with the odd cap necklace and the odd dreamy smile. Luna's stuff never did go missing for long, Pansy made sure of that.

4) Schedule

"Ditz."

"Gorilla."

Millicent and Parvati liked their routine.

5) Similar

Theodore looked at Daphne miserably. "Sometimes I feel invisible," He confessed.

The beautiful blonde responded steadily. "Honestly, sometimes I do too."

6) Symbolism

"You know what I don't understand," Draco said to Ernie, in a somewhat conversational tone that still managed to show his snide personality. "Why yellow and black signify badgers. It doesn't make much sense to me."

Ernie was a staunch supporter of the light, but the question Draco posed didn't seem like a sinister death eater trap, so he chose to answer politely. "There is a deeper reason, but I do understand what you mean. It rather reminds me of a," he paused in thought.

"bumblebee." He and Draco finished together, nodding in agreement.

7) Commiserate

Montague and Oliver hated each other. But that didn't stop them from meeting once a week outside under their favorite tree by the lake to complain about how annoying their teammates could be and the struggles of being a captain.

8) Assistance

Filch was in the middle of his usual rant- dismemberment, castration, hanging from the ceiling, chains- the whole deal. If Fred and George weren't stuck in the hallway as the man dragged them to his office, they might have found the situation rather funny.

Or at least remarked at the extreme kinkiness of what Filch was threatening them with.

But since they were stuck and in line for a rather irritating detention, they weren't feeling all that chipper. Filch rounded the corner and came face to face with a Slytherin second year.

"Move boy," He growled.

"Sorry Mr. Filch," The boy said. His dark eyes were wide and seemingly innocent. That was why Fred and George hated ickle Slytherins, they were always annoying little con artists. That was also why Fred and George respected Slytherins somewhat (not much, but a little). "I just thought you might want to know Peeves is tearing up a classroom on the second floor. A teacher sent me to get help, but I could find someone else, as I know you're busy." He said earnestly.

Filch gave him a horrible grin and took off down the hall, cursing at the ghost. The boy smirked at the man's retreating back and sent an uncaring look at the fourth year boys. "Well, what are you waiting for?" He walked away muttering about the "stupid noble Gryffindors" that were "too idiotic to take an escape when they got it".

Fred and George grinned at each other and silently vowed that the second year Slytherin would not be subjected to a prank for the rest of the year. All bets were off next year though.

9) Animals

Pansy was a pug. Hermione was a beaver. Together, they might not have been a perfect match, but it would certainly have made for an interesting acquaintanceship when they weren't too busy hating each other.

10) Trauma

Blaise had been able to see the strange horses the first time he rode on the carriages to Hogwarts. He had looked them up in the library, saw the definition, (you can only see them if you have seen death) and laughed to keep from crying.

11) Study Buddy

They met up in the library twice a week to do essays together. Theodore and Dean didn't bother to talk much, and on the rare occasion that they did it was only to exchange essay help and insults, but they felt like they might have been friends all the same.

12) Burial

It wasn't that she was in love with him, although most of the female population was, but Cedric Diggory did interest Daphne in a perfectly platonic manner. They didn't talk much. They would say hello when they passed each other, but for all intents and purposes they might have been strangers. She cried herself to sleep on the night he died, and then that was that.

13) Praying Mantis

Blaise thought that Ginny Weasley was beautiful, but in a purely aesthetic way. He didn't have sexual fantasies about her or anything like that. To be honest, he had trouble being romantically attracted to anyone because, as much as he loved his mother, from her he had seen what women could do to people and would never allow that to happen to him.

14) Partner

Vincent and Gregory weren't smart. Vincent and Gregory were strong, but strength only went so far and they both know that to a certain extent. Vincent and Gregory were, in fact, amazingly stupid, but they were still people. When Vincent died, Gregory felt emptier than his stupidity had ever made him feel.

15) Detachment

There were times when Neville felt terrified of the nearing battle with V-V… You Know Who. He wasn't sure if he would live, or if his friends would live. In these moments he would observe Blaise Zabini and feel ridiculously jealous of the other boy's inconspicuous neutrality in the war.

16) Roles

Albus partly blamed himself for the gulf between Slytherin and Gryffindor. He knew that the problems stemmed from centuries before his time, and only became more pronounced with Tom's rise into power. All the same, he knew that if he had been a little bit wiser, a little bit fairer, and a little bit stricter, Draco Malfoy might not have felt so trapped in his role as a Slytherin that the sixteen year old boy felt that he had to murder him.

17) Comfort

"Look, not that I care and all, but are you okay?" Dean asked, eyes darting around the empty classroom to make sure that no one was there watching him check on the sobbing Slytherin girl.

Millicent sent him a teary glare, but then blinked in confusion. "You know, I think I am now."

She weren't so far gone that she would thank him and he wasn't far gone enough to accept her thanks in the first place, but that didn't really matter in the end.

18) Alternate

Harry hated the Slytherins because that was what Gryffindors did. At the same time, however, he remembered how Slytherin had almost been his house, and wondered what life would have been like if he hadn't met Draco Malfoy on the train and become so repulsed by the idea of the house. Would he have been happy there too? He didn't think about that much though.

19) Raised

They traded insults easily, without bothering to really think about what they were saying. Draco watched gleefully as Ron's ears lit up in fury and Ron threw back insults about Draco's father that made the blonde pale. Then they would go their separate ways, still hating each other, but that was life. It was funny; all children were their parent's victims, in a way.

20) Discovery

Lavender didn't hate the Slytherins. Of course, she knew that she was the only one of her housemates who didn't hate them on principle, so she kept quiet about it. She didn't particularly like them either, but she had always thought that it was silly to hate anyone because of who they were. She knew that, sooner or later, her apathy to the other house would be noticed. And for whatever reason, maybe because of the fabled bravery of Gryffindor, that didn't scare her at all.

21) Comparisons

"Mine are so much worse!" Oliver exclaimed, his eyes wide and angry. "There isn't a single practice where someone doesn't call me Ollie, nearly kills our seeker, or it starts to rain!"

"Are you kidding me?" Montague growled back. "I have the pansy-ass Malfoy on my team who can't catch a snitch for his life!"

"I have the Weasley twins."

The two teenagers fell silent. "You win," Montague whispered hoarsely, horrified at the thought.

22) Nurse

"You're an idiot, you know." He said in a conversational tone, pulling the Irish boy into a nearby, and thankfully empty, classroom.

Seamus struggled against Blaise's vice-like grip, protesting all of the way. He wasn't able to do much though, those stupid death eaters that called themselves teachers had gotten to him. He was just lucky that he hadn't been disposed of.

Blaise flung him into an empty chair, sending him a glare to make Seamus stay still. "You _know_ how angry they get when someone goes against them. And if you had _just waited_ a bit you could have helped that first year without getting mauled." The black boy ground out, while wrapping Seamus's aching wrist with gauze a bit tighter than necessary. "I can't do anything else for you, so you're going to have to deal with the bruises on your own. Idiotic Gryffindors and their ridiculous bravado."

Seamus looked at his wrapped wrist carefully, not quite trusting Blaise enough (okay, he didn't trust him at all) to not suspect that it wasn't booby trapped in some way. When he looked up Blaise was nearly at the door. "Hey," He called out quietly. "Thanks."

The other boy didn't turn back. "Whatever. Keep it to yourself."

Seamus beamed.

23) Love Triangles

They rolled their eyes when Draco left the compartment yet again to go bother Potter and his friends. "How long do you think he will be gone this time?" Pansy asked, with slight jealously, but mostly honest amusement. "I swear he's obsessed with them."

"Maybe he's in love?" Theodore asked, smiling slyly. The other Slytherins smirked back at him in appreciation for the joke that he started.

"With Granger?" Daphne exclaimed, with false horror, her face taking on a characterized expression. "Heavens no, not a Mudblood!"

"He would be the scourge of the Malfoy family," Blaise nodded sagely.

"Draco wouldn't risk that." Pansy said, biting her lip, caught between wanting to join in on the joke and wanting to protect her love. She decided the joke would be more fun. She gave an artificial gasp, and leaned in. The others followed her lead. "You don't think that… Weasley?"

The rest gasped in false horror. "Never that!" Daphne exclaimed.

"But maybe all of their fighting was…" Pansy trailed off.

"True love?" Daphne screamed. "Oh my god!"

"Hush!" Pansy said. "I'm just saying that maybe it's more than we thought."

"But where does Potter fall in?" Millicent asked. "I always thought that he and Weasley might be closer than everyone realized."

"Perhaps a threesome?" Blaise suggested.

"No. Guys I've figured it out," Theodore said, smiling confidently. The door slid open letting Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle in. Theodore continued nonetheless. "Draco loves Ron Weasley, who pines for Potter, who is tragically straight."

Draco spluttered indignantly, closing the compartment door quickly lest his friends be overheard spouting nonsense. "What brought this on?!"

"Oh Drakey!" Pansy simpered, throwing herself at him while trying to hide her snickering. "It must be very hard on you! Let me heal your internal wounds."

"Yes Drakey." Blaise said dryly. "Please let us heal your wounds."

The Slytherins proceeded to laugh at Draco over his flustered and furious protests.

24) Guardian

Slytherins and Gryffindors could agree, not that they would ever know it, that Severus Snape, while being completely beneficial to the Slytherins, was kind of an asshole. The thing was, the Slytherins liked him anyway, because it wasn't like anyone else was looking after them. And sometimes it was really nice to have someone besides yourself looking out for your best interests.

25) Unequal

Those in Slytherin weren't born into the characteristics. It was raised in them, intentionally or not. Children in Slytherin had to learn how to survive, for whatever reason, at a very young age. They had to learn how to put themselves first in order to live. In any other house, the necessity to be cunning in a child would be pitied. Slytherin wasn't every other house though, and they knew that.

26) Bonding

Pansy believed in all sorts of things. She believed in fantasy, true love, and soul mates. She believed in happy endings with all of her might. Hannah Abbot shares these beliefs. They weren't really friends, but people with similar thoughts tended to group together, even if they were in different houses. Hannah was the one who comforted Pansy when Draco broke up with her, and the only person Pansy had ever cried in front of. Similarities brought people together, but experiences made them closer.

27) Compliments

"Hey, Weasley." Daphne said quietly, poking the younger girl on the head. The first year whipped around and quickly stowed the book she had been writing in into her bag. Daphne mentally rolled her eyes, kids and their diaries.

"What?" The other girl whispered, her voice only slightly hostile as a half a year wasn't nearly enough time to build up a substantial prejudice.

"You have really pretty hair." Daphne smiled and sauntered away.

She really hoped that Ginny wouldn't think that she was lying, because she seemed like she could seriously use a self-esteem boost and hopefully that comment would help a little. Daphne smirked to herself; she felt awfully benevolent.

28) Courage

"Want to hear a secret?" Theodore told Neville, his eyes serious and without any sort of mockery in them. Neville glared at him, looking around the hallway expecting one of the manic death eater teachers to walk around the corner and assist the Slytherin at whatever game he was playing at.

"What?" He said harshly.

"I think that you're pretty brave," Theodore said calmly. "Ridiculously stupid, always charging into trouble, but brave nonetheless." He sent Neville a grin and strolled off whistling merrily. Neville would never have admitted it, but hearing that made him feel braver than he ever had.

29) Switzerland

Madam Pomfrey could successfully attest that she was the one person in Hogwarts who didn't have any bias on houses. While the thought made her proud, it also made her extremely frustrated with everyone else, particularly the teachers. They ought to have known better. She didn't know what she could do about the injury causing rivalries that hurt the students in more ways than physical. She just treated all of the children who came to her door with the same attitude, medicine, and neutrality, and hoped that somehow they would still turn out all right.

Because God knew that no one else was helping them.

30) Eagle

In the afternoons when the students didn't have classes, instead of doing homework, Theodore liked to go to the roof of the astronomy tower. There he would stand on the edge, spread his arms out, and pretend that he was flying. Although he was balanced precariously with the wind threatening to shove him off at all times, he was never afraid.

31) Periodically

Slytherins and Gryffindors hated each other. But once in a while, there were rare moments when the rivalry wasn't quite so bad. Once in a while, the hatred that they had been forced into would dull for a few seconds. They had to be content with just once in a while. But, once in a while, they wished they could just stop the competition, because it was so draining, and really, they were all wizards in the end.


End file.
